Tom Lennie reviews ‘Elijah Men Eat Meat: Readings to slaughter your inner Ahab & pursue revival and reform’, by Joshua D Jones (self-published, 2017)

‘The Real World of the New Testament’ and ‘Elijah Speaks Today’

Resurrection of the dead (Part 1).

Christians do not live merely for time but also for eternity. They have a hope for the future which is certain by receiving eternal life through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The next foundational truth assures us that there is going to be a resurrection day. Jesus said, “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out - those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned” (John 5:28-29).

Paul boldly asserts, “If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless…For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either…But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Cor 15:13-16, 20).

Resurrection of the Dead in the Old Testament

God’s power and ability to raise people from the dead was manifested in the Old Testament. Elijah was used of God to raise the widow of Zarephath’s son from the dead (1 Kings 17:20-22) and Elisha raised the Shunammite’s son (2 Kings 4:8-37).

There was that amazing funeral recorded in 2 Kings 13, when a party of men went to bury a friend. While they were doing this they saw a party of raiders coming towards them. With no time to dig the grave, they threw the body into a nearby grave where Elisha was buried. As soon as the corpse made contact with the Prophet’s bones, he was revived, and ran and joined the burying party!!

God’s power and ability to raise people from the dead is manifested throughout Scripture.

One of the oldest books in the Bible is Job. Through all his troubles he also had the great hope of the resurrection day. He said, “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God” (Job 19:25-26).

Resurrection in the New Testament

It is recorded that Jesus raised three people from the dead: Jairus’ daughter; the widow of Nain’s son and Lazarus (Matt 9:23-25; Luke 7:12-15; John 11). There is a remarkable story related in very few words of what happened when Jesus died and rose again:

And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus’ resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people. (Matthew 27:50-53)

What a story! What surprises in Jerusalem! What power in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus! We also read of Peter being God’s instrument to raise Dorcas from the dead (Acts 9:36-4). A young man called Eutychus fell asleep while Paul was preaching. He fell from an upstairs window and was killed. Paul prayed for the young man and he was restored to life (Acts 20:7-12). This story is a warning not to fall asleep during the preaching! There may not be a Paul present!

I have met two people who witnessed God’s power in raising the dead, and there are accounts of this happening in times of revival.

The Future Resurrection

The Bible teaches about the certainty of future resurrections: the resurrection of the just, and the resurrection of the unjust. The terminology used is, ‘the resurrection of the just’; ‘the resurrection of life’; ‘the resurrection of the last day’; ‘the resurrection of the dead’ (Luke 14:14; John 5:29; John 11:24; Acts 23:6). Paul, writing to the Thessalonians, assured them:

For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. (1 Thessalonians 4:16)

The Bible teaches about the certainty of future resurrections: the resurrection of the just, and the resurrection of the unjust.

Believers Shall Rise Again

• First: “Blessed and holy are those who have part in this first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ” (Rev 20:6).
  
• To eternal life: “Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt” (Dan 12:2).
  
• To be glorified with Christ: “When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory” (Col 3:4).
  
• With incorruptible bodies: “So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body” (1 Cor 15:42-44).
  
• With a body like Christ’s body: “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body” (Phil 3:20-21).

What a glorious hope for the Christian! What comfort when Christian loved ones die knowing we will meet again! There is a resurrection day!

Resurrection - A Glorious Hope

Yes, this teaching gives wonderful hope to the child of God. Before a person becomes a Christian, they are “without hope and without God in the world”. But once we believe the situation is changed “you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ” (Eph 2:12-13).

Hope is the confident looking forward to something which is certain, with absolute assurance. When Paul was arrested and brought before the Sanhedrin he said, “I stand on trial because of my hope in the resurrection of the dead” (Acts 23:6).

Don’t miss one of the important reasons for this teaching. Life is punctuated by difficult circumstances and problems but there are better things to come. Peter used this truth to encourage and to comfort persecuted saints. They were being hunted, living in caves and suffering deprivation, and to use Peter’s words, “suffering grief in all kinds of trials”. This was one of his opening statements in his letter to them:

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade, kept in heaven for you. (1 Peter 1:3-4)

Life is punctuated by difficult circumstances and problems but there are better things to come.

The truth of the resurrection of the dead has been the hope of millions who have been martyred down through the centuries. Jesus told his disciples, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matt 10:28).

Resurrection day is going to usher God’s people into a new era. Then it is going to be ‘forever with the Lord’. It is going to be the entry into an imperishable inheritance, kept, or reserved, in Heaven for you. We are going to see what Jesus meant when he said to his disciples, “In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me, that you also may be where I am” (John 14:2-3).

What is it going to be like? In one way it is indescribable. Paul said, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Cor 2:9). We do not have a lot of information about Heaven, but we have enough. The Bible tells us something of what is there, and something of what is not there. The greatest thing is that HE is there. We shall see him and we shall be like him. Anne Cousin, anticipating this in the last century, wrote these words:

The Bride eyes not her garment,
But her dear Bridegroom’s face;
I will not gaze at glory
But on the King of Grace.
Not at the crown He giveth
But on His pierced hand.
The Lamb is all the glory
Of Immanuel’s land.

Next week: The return of our Lord Jesus and the judgment seat of Christ.

Apocalyptic battle will be over the status of Jerusalem

In the wake of the worldwide denunciation of President Trump’s earth-shaking decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, nations are now queueing up to follow his lead.

And yet even while archaeological finds further confirm Jewish connection to the City over thousands of years, the UK and other major European powers stubbornly refuse to face reality.

In joining the predictable chorus of disapproval at the UN, the British people are in ever-increasing danger of being numbered among the goats of Judgment Day referred to by Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew (25:31-46).

This passage is widely interpreted to relate to how the peoples of the world have treated God’s chosen race – the “brothers and sisters” (in the flesh) of our Saviour, who was born the King of Israel (Matt 2:2) and is coming back as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah (Rev 5:5).

Isaiah writes: “For the nation or kingdom that will not serve you will perish; it will be utterly ruined” (60:12; see also Mic 5:15).

Sheep and Goats

On my latest tour of Israel, I learnt a fascinating lesson that I believe relates to this important passage (Matt 25) – that sheep keep the grass neatly cut with their grazing while goats pull it out by the roots.

In the same way, true disciples of Jesus, the Great Shepherd, should follow him closely and feed on the rich pasture he has provided, that is nourished by the Law of Moses along with the patriarchs and prophets of Judaism. The goats, on the other hand, cut themselves off from the roots of their faith, as a result of which their pasture withers and dies (see Rom 11:17f).

Goats cut themselves off from the roots of their faith, as a result of which their pasture withers and dies.

Actually, the US Congress voted to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital 22 years ago, but successive Presidents have simply put off implementing the decision until now. And Czech President Milos Zeman has accused EU states opposing this stance as “cowards”.¹

Arab Realism

Even Arab commentators are encouraging their people to accept reality. A Saudi academic, for example, has called on Arabs to recognise Jerusalem’s sanctity to Jews. Abdulhameed Hakeem, head of the Middle East Centre for Strategic and Legal Studies in Jedda, told US-based Alhurra Television that Trump’s move constitutes a “positive shock” to the peace process, adding: “We must recognise and realise that Jerusalem is a religious symbol to Jews and sacred to them, as Mecca and Medina is to Muslims.”²

And in an article last year, he stressed that Israel and Saudi Arabia faced a common Nazi-like threat in Iran,³ which has reportedly pledged every assistance to terror group Hamas in “the battle for the defence of Jerusalem”.⁴

With its efforts to make good on a long-promised boast to wipe Israel off the map, Iran continues to be a serious threat (despite encouraging protests from within the rogue regime), establishing a military base in Syria while at the same time supplying terror group Hezbollah with a huge stash of weapons on Israel’s northern border.

Choose Whom You Will Serve

So, with the nations as a whole setting their face against Israel, and denying their right both to the Land and their capital, the stage is being set for the battle of the ages. According to the Bible, it will take place at Armageddon (or the plain of Jezreel) in northern Israel (Rev 16:16), but the trigger will be Jerusalem.

Although physical in nature, it will in reality be more of a spiritual conflict determining who is ultimately in charge of the ways of men and the world.

The stage is being set for the battle of the ages, which will determine who is in charge of the ways of men and the world.

Elijah of old was engaged in a great battle with 400 false prophets in this same region, and he won hands down with only God on his side – which is all he needed, of course (see 1 Kings 18). Frustrated at the idolatry of his people, the Prophet famously laid down the rules for the contest: The God who answered by fire would be the victor. And sure enough, the fire of the Lord burnt up the sacrifice and the people changed their mind about their allegiance.

BATTLEFIELD VIEW: A stunning scene of the plain of Jezreel, otherwise known as Armageddon, from the traditional site of Elijah’s battle with the false prophets on Mt Carmel. Picture: Linda GardnerThat bloody contest – all the false prophets were subsequently slaughtered – took place on Mt Carmel which, as it happens, overlooks Armageddon where the final great battle will be enacted, quite possibly in the very near future especially since, as the prophets have foretold, it will be over the status of Jerusalem (see Zech 12:2f).

It may come as a surprise to some that Jerusalem is God’s very own City – he effectively owns it; it bears his name (see Dan 9:18f; Neh 1:9). But false deities, with the connivance of numerous world powers, refuse to acknowledge this. They are setting a trap into which they will fall!

Jesus lamented over Jerusalem because of their rejection of him, but at the same time prophesied their ultimate acceptance of his rule (Matt 23:39). He has not finished with Jerusalem; he will come back just as he left (Acts 1:11).

Confirmation Upon Confirmation

Further confirmation of Israel’s claim to the Land has come from recent archaeological finds.

A replica of a first-century coin, dated 67 AD and containing the inscription ‘Jerusalem the Holy’, was held up at a session of the United Nations Security Council by Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon.⁵ And a seal owned by Jerusalem’s governor some 2,700 years ago has been unearthed near the Western Wall. It contains an inscription in ancient Hebrew and supports the biblical rendering of the existence of a governor in the City at the time.⁶

Speaking of the find, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat said: “Jerusalem is one of the most ancient capitals in the world, continually populated by the Jewish people for more than 3,000 years.”⁷ Another recent find – 1,300-year-old coins from the Islamic Umayyad Dynasty imprinted with an image of the menorah from the Jewish Temple – shows that early Muslims acknowledged the City’s Jewish identity. According to Assaf Avraham of Bar-Ilan University, they adopted the Jewish narrative and symbols for their own.⁸

Jesus has not finished with Jerusalem, which will ultimately accept his rule.

History Already Made

At the end of the day, Jews from all over the world are returning to their roots in fulfilment of many ancient Scriptures. The much-acclaimed film Lion tells the moving story of a five-year-old Indian boy, Saroo (‘Lion’), who got lost after becoming separated from his older brother, and was eventually adopted and brought up by loving ‘parents’ in Australia. But it didn’t stop the grown-up Saroo going to extraordinary lengths to trace his roots and find his beloved mother.

Yet, despite all the evidence supporting Israel’s claim, Palestinian leaders simply refuse to accept the truth. In the year 2000, Yasser Arafat turned down the chance of a comprehensive peace deal because he refused to recognise Jewish historical ties to Jerusalem’s Temple Mount. “The Jews never had a Temple at the site,” he said at the time.⁹ The entire Palestinian narrative is based on a lie that would be recognised by children at kindergarten. And yet world leaders don’t get it!

But they must get used to the idea. The God of Israel is the history-maker and has chosen the Jews to inherit the Land he has promised them. That there would be an almighty battle over the territory was always part of the script. The prophets warned that this would happen, but that Elohim (God) would be the ultimate victor, “watching over his word to perform it” (Jer 1:12).

The Messiah is waiting for that day – and I pray it will come soon – when his ancient people greet him once more with gladness, saying: “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Matt 23:39; Ps 118:26).

Notes

1 Czech leader slams EU ‘cowards’ on Jerusalem stance. Times of Israel, 10 December 2017.

2 Lynfield, B. Saudi academic calls on Arabs to recognize Jewish connection to Jerusalem. Jerusalem Post, 18 December 2017.

3 Ibid.

4 Lieber, D. Iran pledging all its might to Hamas for Jerusalem battle, terror group says. Times of Israel, 25 December 2017.

5 JNN, 11 December 2017, quoting Arutz-7.

6 Rare First Temple-Era Hebrew seal found at Western Wall. World Israel News, 1 January 2018.

7 Ibid.

8 Berkowitz, AE. Archaeologists Discover Muslim Artifacts Proving Jerusalem’s Jewish Identity. Breakingisraelnews, 8 December 2017.

9 Christian Friends of Israel’s Watching Over Zion newsletter, 30 November 2017.

A call to radical discipleship.

In part two of a series examining the relevance of the message and ministry of the non-writing prophets for today, Wilfred Wong looks at the lessons which can be learned from the life of Elisha.

The ministry of Elisha was complementary to that of Elijah. Elijah's name means ‘God is Yahweh’ while the name Elisha means ‘God is Salvation’. Elisha was an evangelist whereas Elijah, like Moses, had to restore and vindicate the dignity of the law which was, at the time, neglected and despised. Elisha led back to God those who had been aroused from their complacency by the ministry of Elijah.

The role of both Elijah and Elisha are crucial for today's church to encompass, in presenting to the world the message of who God is (Elijah) and that God saves (Elisha).

They both prophesied to Israel at a time of widespread religious confusion and disobedience to God. This was fuelled by relativism and syncretism, a mix of false teaching and divine revelation, similar to the times that we now live in. At that time in Israel, remnants of God's teachings existed side by side with the idols Baal and Asherah of the Canaanite religion. The king of Israel and the people were confused as to who the true God was.

Similarly, today, this nation has been flooded with more religions and occultic belief systems than at any other time in its history. Under the guise of 'tolerance’ and 'progressiveness’, even church leaders have professed their own subjective and unsubstantiated opinions about God rather than what he has revealed in Scripture.

Today in the West, many people have adopted a consumerist attitude towards religion, including Christians. Some Christians like to pick and choose those aspects of God's character which they are happy to accept. God's love is emphasised and his anger ignored. Many convince themselves that surely God will not mind if they continue to be disobedient. God has been neatly packaged for our convenience and placed in our back pockets. These mistakes are nothing new; they were committed as long ago as the time of Elisha. For all our ’modernity’ and 'progressiveness’, we appear to have come full circle and are no more spiritually enlightened than the people of old.

Elijah and Elisha both prophesied to Israel at a time of widespread religious confusion and disobedience to God.

This spiritual depravity is also reflected in the senseless violence that is on the rise in British society, where even little children are brutally murdered for sexual gratification and about eight million unborn children have been killed since the introduction of the 1967 Abortion Act.¹ The latter is perhaps comparable to the human sacrifices conducted in the Canaanite religion.

God’s Righteous Anger

God's anger is clearly demonstrated after Elisha is mocked (2 Kings 2:23-25). This passage is often cited as a major moral problem in the Old Testament. However, the mocking of Elisha, as God's representative, was tantamount to mocking God himself and such blasphemy was punished according to the Deuteronomic doctrine of retributive justice (Deut 7:10, 18:19).

Furthermore, Elisha himself could not have brought about the punishment of the youths. There is no need for Christians to try and make excuses for God's anger in these verses, for though God is love, he is also a God of righteous anger and he has no need to justify his acts to those whom he has created. This anger is demonstrated at many points in Scripture, for instance in the punishment of Ananias and Sapphira for lying to God (Acts 5:1-11).

Although God is merciful and forgiving, he wants us both to love and fear him - the reason for the latter being that fear of God will help to keep us from sinning (Ex 20:18-20, Luke 12:45). Many people, including Christians, lack an awareness of sin and its consequences because much of the Church has shied away from teaching about God's righteous anger. Sin is an unpopular subject nowadays. Perhaps it may only be a matter of time before God's anger results in a terrible chastisement upon this nation and on the whole world, for its blatant disregard for his laws.

For Those Who Will Obey

Though Elisha is to proclaim that God saves, this salvation is only for those who humble themselves and are obedient to God. As is demonstrated above, those who dare to mock God are made to account for their actions (see also Gal 6:7). There are numerous miracles performed by Elisha, which demonstrate God’s saving power for those who are obedient to him: in 2 Kings 4:1-7, Elisha saves a widow in debt from having her two boys taken away as slaves. 2 Kings 4:38-41 describes God’s power to make safe that which is harmful, when Elisha makes a deadly stew edible.

Although God is merciful and forgiving, he wants us both to love and fear him – for the fear of God will help to keep us from sinning.

God also shows his care and provision for those who follow him. In 2 Kings 4:42-44 Elisha feeds a multitude of people with only a small number of loaves demonstrating, yet again, the Lord's care for the needs of his people. In the healing of Naaman, in 2 Kings 5:1-27, Elisha demonstrates God's mercy on those who are willing to humble themselves before him, seek God’s will and faithfully obey him (here we have a story of the conversion and healing of a non-Israelite leper).

We also see God’s severe punishment upon those who are unfaithful in their service to him. Naaman, in gratitude for his healing, offers Elisha a gift, which he refuses (vs 15, 16). However, Elisha’s servant, Gehazi, deceives Naaman into giving him the gifts and he and his descendants are struck down with leprosy.

Storing Up Treasures in Heaven

Gehazi was supposed to be serving God through his service to God’s chosen prophet, Elisha, yet he failed miserably when tempted by riches. This is a lesson for all of us who are engaged in Christian service. It is very common today to hear reports of Christians whose ministries are corrupted by sex, pride or money or any combination of these factors. All of us who serve God need regularly to examine our motives and attitudes and ask ourselves whether we are storing up treasures in heaven or on earth (Matt 6:19-21).

Will we follow the way of Elisha or Gehazi? Until the day we leave this world, we can never be too sure. This is a humbling thought and we need always to seek God’s help in remaining faithful. Although life may sometimes be very difficult, it is only temporary and God will reward believers according to how faithfully and obediently they have served him (Rom 14:12, Rev 22:12, 1 Cor 2:9).

It is quite awesome to realise that the nature of God's eternal reward awaiting us in Heaven will be determined by whatever we do during our temporary stay on earth. If all Christians truly internalised this truth, we would fling aside all those distractions which side-track us from effective Christian service, and focus single-mindedly on serving and pleasing God.

Uncompromising Discipleship

Such is the manner in which Elisha served God. He not only was obedient and faithful, but was willing to give up his livelihood, humble himself and be a servant to Elijah in order to be prepared for his prophetic ministry (1 Kings 19:19-21).

All of us who serve God need regularly to examine our motives and attitudes and ask ourselves whether we are storing up treasures in heaven or on earth.

By the standards which Jesus set, Elisha was a true disciple. When called to serve God, he left everything and did not look back (Luke 9:57-62) and he was not afraid to sacrifice and suffer and even to risk his life, as his ministry was likely to incur the wrath of the authorities (Luke 14:20-27).

True discipleship is always radical, yet we often water down the quality of our service to God, justifying this in the interests of our convenience and comfort. Elisha in his ministry was not only proclaiming God’s salvation but also encouraging the people to obey God. Some parallels can be seen with the Great Commission which Jesus gave to his disciples as recorded in Matthew 28:18-20. They were instructed not only to ‘make disciples’ but stress was also placed on ‘teaching them (i.e. the nations) to obey everything I have commanded you.’

What prophetic role is the Church in this country performing to teach the nation to obey God's commands? Unfortunately, some Christians seem more concerned with their image and not upsetting others than with uncompromisingly proclaiming God’s laws. The wavering stance within parts of the Church on the sinfulness of homosexual practices is just one example of this continuing process of compromise.

Sadly, many parts of the Church are failing to teach God’s commands by word or example. In the West, rather than influencing society, society is influencing the Church. Even sincere and devout Christians often fall into the trap of professing beliefs which are based more on the cultural influences of the day than on God's teachings as found in the Bible.

It is quite awesome to realise that the nature of God's eternal reward awaiting us in Heaven will be determined by what we do during our temporary stay on earth.

More Than We Can Imagine

We are all called to radical discipleship. It is not an easy road and we need God’s assistance and guidance along every step of the way. Like Elisha, we should have lives of deep prayer and seek God's will, in prayer, with an attitude of humility and obedience and through the study of God's word.

When we are humble and obedient instruments of God, he is able to achieve great things through us, perhaps more than we can imagine, as he did through his servant Elisha.

First published in Prophecy Today, Vol 13(5), 1997. Part of a series - click here for back issues.

Notes

1 2015 statistics.

In the first of a series on the non-writing prophets, Chris Hill looks at Elijah.

Ahab was without doubt the most evil king to rule the northern kingdom of Israel. Nearly one third of I and 2 Kings is devoted to his reign and that of his two sons. A period of 34 years.

Prompted by the influence of his pagan wife, Jezebel, Ahab had led God's people into grotesque idolatry. The Canaanite gods of Baal and Asherah had been installed and were being worshipped as Israel's redeemer.

Yet, strangely, vestiges of the old faith were still around. Ahab had named two of his sons Ahaziah (which means ‘the Lord grasps hold of’) and Joram (‘the Lord is exalted’). The confusion in his own mind had had a knock-on effect in the nation. King and people alike were in a terrible state of indecision (not unlike our own leaders and people today), limping between several opinions as to who was the true God.

The Lord has always hated such syncretism — the ’blending’ of false religion and biblical revelation. He still hates it. Syncretism invites his wrath just the same now as it did then.

The Lord has always hated syncretism — the ’blending’ of false religion and biblical revelation. He still hates it.

To look at Israel in the ninth century BC, you could be forgiven for thinking that Jezebel’s annihilation of the Lord’s prophets and servants had been so thorough that there was no voice of protest left in the land. That would be a mistake. 1 Kings 18:4 indicates that one man alone, Obadiah, had sheltered a hundred of the Lord's prophets from these purges. The Lord himself later says that there were seven thousand people in Israel who had not bowed the knee to Baal (1 Kings 19:18).

These are extraordinary statistics. To see the state of the nation, you would never have dreamt these anonymous people existed. They must have been active at some level, in spite of the prevailing conditions, but their impact upon society was nil. No-one heard the word of the Lord because the Lord's people refused to speak it out.

It took a man of singular faith to change things. That man was Elijah from Tishbe on the eastern side of the Jordan river.

The Representative Prophet

EIijah was more than ‘an average prophet’. It is significant that when our Lord was being prepared for his passion (Luke 9:31), he was ministered to by Moses (representing the law) and Elijah (representing the prophets). It was not Isaiah or Jeremiah, Ezekiel or Joel, but Elijah. This would seem to be confirmed by the attitude of the angel towards John the Baptist, who came "in the spirit and power of Elijah" (Luke 1:17). A view later reflected in our Lord's own words (Matt 11:14).

Thousands of the Lord’s people remained in pagan Israel – but no-one heard the word of the Lord because they refused to speak it out.

It is important, at this point, to note that there is no biblical warrant for saying that the ministry of prophecy in the New Testament is any different from that in the Old Testament. Consequently, the ministry of Elijah, who we may regard as the 'representative prophet’, should act as an indicator of the nature of prophecy today.

In common with his fellow prophets, Elijah was a communicator of the mind, will and heart of God. He was, we might say, a ’law enforcement officer’ and a ‘guardian of the covenant’. He spoke forth the word of the Lord to his people, and his heart beat with the heart-beat of the Lord for his people.

We see this demonstrated in three ways.

1) Elijah was jealous for the Lord (1 Kings 19:10)

The Hebrew word may be translated as ‘zealous’ or ‘jealous’. Both were true of the genuine prophet. To be filled with zeal for the Lord is to be wholeheartedly for Him. Elijah was jealous for the Lord. Jealousy is a virtue and not a sin. Otherwise, the Lord could not reveal himself as "a jealous God" (Ex 20:5).

To be ‘envious’ is to want what belongs to someone else, but to be ‘jealous’ is to want something back that is truly mine, but which has been taken away from me. Elijah felt what God felt. His heart beat with God’s heart-beat. He put God’s interests above his own, even though it would threaten his very life.

The true prophet of the Lord is not interested in his own reputation or the popularity of his message because he values God above all else. He is the messenger of the Lord and in consequence communicates the heart of God as well as his word. When God's prophet brings a blistering tirade to God's people, he does so with tears - tears for the people and tears for God. God's prophet longs to see repentance and reconciliation where there is rebellion and estrangement.

Elijah felt what God felt. His heart beat with God’s heart-beat and he put God’s interests above his own.

2) There was a reason for Elijah's confident prophesying (1 Kings 17:1)

It takes a remarkable kind of faith to enable a man to stride into the audience chamber of a pagan king and state unequivocally that it will not rain for the next few years. We can but wonder at the profound certainty (or folly) of such a move. It seems to leave Ahab speechless. The question is: how did Elijah know that God was actually saying this? How did he know he had a prophetic word to give?

ln these ‘enlightened’ times we might suppose that Elijah had an 'inner witness’, a nervous twitch, or maybe a sudden sense of warmth and an increase in heart-beat. Perhaps he had an uncontrollable urge to rush into the king‘s presence and say the first thing that came into his mouth.

None of these is correct. There is only one reason why Elijah spoke those fateful words. It may be found in Deuteronomy 11:16-17, which states:

Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them [an apt description of Israel under Ahab and Jezebel]. Then the Lord's anger will burn against you, and he will shut the heavens so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce, and you will soon perish from the good land the Lord is giving you.
(emphasis added)

Elijah’s confident announcement was made on the basis that he was thoroughly familiar with his Bible (or rather those parts God's word which had been committed to writing in his day). He knew that the secret of prophecy is simply this: if the conditions fit the situation, God is saying now what God has always said in his word.

Elijah knew the secret of prophecy: that if the conditions fit the situation, God is saying now what God has always said in his word.

True prophets have a deep understanding of Scripture. They understand that to test what they believe God is wanting them to say, they must be entirely convinced that this is in complete accord with his word. They understand that without a profound grasp of the scriptures they must not dare to speak out as it they have a word from him.

The prophet recognises with holy awe that if any part of his (or her) utterance is not in accordance with the Bible then to that extent he is prophesying falsely. Such a challenging matter should not deter but rather drive him to read the word.

3) Elijah prayed earnestly (James 5:17)

It is inconceivable that a true prophet could be anything less than a 'prayer warrior’. The question is how did Elijah pray?

James 5:17 says that in consequence of his praying it did not run for “three and a half years”. The reference in 1 Kings 18:1, however, appears to indicate only three years of drought. There is a six-month difference. What are we to make of this?

It looks as if there was already a six-month drought before Elijah prayed that it would not rain. In other words, Elijah prayed that the situation in the land would get worse.

This is odd. Most of the modern ’prophets’ prophesy nice things, and this is what we are used to. Any ‘prophet’ prophesying and praying that things in the nation (or church) might get worse would be considered in most Christian circles as unloving, insensitive, and not communicating God's word, let alone his heart!

The truth is that Elijah prayed the way he did because he loved the people and wanted to see them brought back to the Lord. It broke his heart to see the estrangement between God and Israel. He prayed that the drought would continue in order to bring the people back to their faithful God.

Most modern ’prophets’ prophesy nice things - any who prophesy that things might get worse would be considered in most Christian circles as unloving or insensitive.

What does the Lord think about us? What does he feel about us? What does he want of us and how does he want us to be? These are the matters which Elijah dealt in, the essence of the prophetic ministry.

The well-known prophecy of Joel 2:28-32, quoted in Acts 2:17-18, indicates that the last days will see a release of the prophetic ministry. As surely as John the Baptist spoke the word of the Lord at his first coming, so we shall see the release of the 'spirit and power of Elijah’ as his return approaches. Many believe we are well into those days. Jesus is coming soon. The mantle of Elijah will cost us what it cost him — complete faithfulness to God because we love him and complete faithfulness to his people because we love them. Courage to tell it like it is — in love, integrity and vibrant faith — come what may.

First published in Prophecy Today, 1997, Volume 13(4).

What did the prophets do at a time when the nation had deserted God, "everyone did was right in his own eyes" and the church of the day had embraced the culture of the world?

The situation in Israel during the period of the Judges is summed up in the scriptural verdict, "Everyone did what was right in his own eyes." It was a time when standards of behaviour fell far short of what the law of God demanded, a time when Israel deserted the one true God for the gods of the heathen.

Towards the end of that period the wicked sons of the ageing high priest Eli exhibited their grabbing materialism and compromised their religious commitment by having intercourse with the female Temple workers. Eli's feeble protests against all this wrongdoing were totally ignored (1 Sam 2:22-25).

This was the time when God raised up Samuel to deal with Israel's moral degeneracy. Described by one writer as 'God's emergency man', Samuel combined within himself the three offices of judge, priest and prophet, and through these offices he transformed the situation in Israel.

During the period of the Judges, everyone did what was right in his own eyes and Israel deserted God, so God raised up Samuel to deal with the situation.

Samuel and the Prophetic Schools

Probably it was through Samuel that the 'schools of the prophets' came into existence at this time. Here, young men could help to call a halt to the national degeneration as they were instructed in the law of God and taught the message and practice of prophecy. From this time, around 1050 BC, right down to the time of Nehemiah c.445 BC, there is evidence in Scripture of prophets meeting and ministering together.

No-one can estimate the influence such groups of studious religious men had on the history of Israel, but we can see - at a time when Britain is turning against God's moral standards and is forsaking the one true God in a morass of syncretism - how much we need 'schools of prophets' today, where men and women can study the word and ways of our God and learn how to speak his life-changing words where they most need to be heard.

The 'Sons of the Prophets' and their Lifestyle

The Old Testament indicates that there were prophetic guilds or 'schools of the prophets' at a number of places, including Gibeah, the home-town of Saul, sometimes called the hill of God or the hill of Saul (1 Sam 10:5; Gibeah means 'hill').

There were companies of prophets at Bethel and Jericho (2 Ki 2:3,5) and probably also at the Jordan (2 Ki 2:7 and 6:1). There were others at Gilgal and in the hill country of Ephraim (2 Ki 4:38 and 5:22). One of the most important was at Ramah, Samuel's home-town, where he presided (1 Sam 19:18-24). Some scholars take the word 'Naioth' as a place-name. It is more likely to be the name given to the school of the prophets in Ramah. Naioth, which means a dwelling or residence, comes from a root word meaning 'to rest', as at home; a lovely thought!

There were prophetic guilds or schools in a number of places, including Bethel, Jericho and Samuel's home-town of Ramah.

The prophets living in their school buildings were called the 'sons' of the prophets, and they referred to their leaders as 'my father' (2 Ki 2:12 and 13:14). It is likely that they wore a prophet's garb, with a garment of hair, a leather belt and sandals (2 Ki 1:8, Is 20:2, Zech 13:4). They were self-supporting, a feature that persisted down the years to and beyond Paul's tent-making. They were not celibate, as we see by the mention of a widow of one of the prophets (this woman brought her problem to Elisha when she ran into financial difficulties after the death of her husband, one of the prophets, in 2 Ki 4:1-7).

They erected the buildings in which they were to live. One such school was bursting at the seams and needed an extension. Elisha approved of this, and helpfully recovered an axe-head used by one of the men so that their log-cabin could be enlarged (2 Ki 6:1-7).

It would appear that there were up to a hundred people at some of these schools (2 Ki 4:43). They were self-catering, and during a time of famine went round the fields to gather what herbs they could find. Unhappily, on one occasion they brought back a poisonous gourd, and only the intervention of Elisha (manifesting the saving power of God) prevented serious after-effects (2 Ki 4:38-41).

The prophets lived in school buildings and were self-supporting, erecting their own buildings and gathering their own food .

One day Elisha received a complaint from the Jericho school to the effect that the water was bad and the land was unproductive. Elisha threw salt into the spring and "the water has remained wholesome to this day". Some of the PWM Team who were in once in Israel can testify that that claim is still true, for we sampled its water and enjoyed its oranges! This was possible only because Elisha's spring still flows sweetly today (2 Ki 2:19-22).

Their Education

In these schools such figures as Samuel, Elijah and Elisha would share the things they had learned about God's dealings with men. They would recount the story of God's protective guidance to Israel. They would explain the reasons for the sad experience concerning the high priest Eli and his perverted sons. They would pass on their knowledge of God's law and the blessedness of obedience (1 Sam 15:22-23).

In helping their trainees to face current situations they would at times need to pray, "Lord, open his eyes that he may see" (2 Ki 6:17). They would learn how to listen to God and how to begin to prophesy.

As a background to these activities the leaders would draw their attention to the state of affairs in their country and in the home life of its people. They would realise that God's message is conveyed in two principal ways: by prophetic words and by mighty deeds, the two being bound indissolubly together (Heb 11:32-35).

Their Ministry

These were assistants to leaders such as Elijah and Elisha. Apart from a few instances (1 Ki 18:43-44, 2 Ki 5:20 and 6:15-17) most of their names are not recorded. They were sent as messengers (2 Ki 9:1-3). They were concerned with the welfare of people in need (2 Ki 8:1-6). Kings and people alike turned to them for guidance (1 Sam 9:7-8, 1 Ki 22:27). It appears that some of them developed a predictive ability (2 Ki 2: 3, 5).

In the schools, trainees would learn how to pray and prophesy, and would learn to understand the state of affairs in the country at large.

Undoubtedly some of them rose to become prophets whose pronouncements are familiar to us in the Old Testament. Amos appears to be an exception, for he says of himself, "I was neither a prophet nor a prophet's son..." (Amos 7:14), indicating that he had not been to any of the schools of the prophets.

The 'Sons of the Prophets' and the Spirit

The Spirit had come upon individuals such as Othniel, Gideon, Jephthah and Samson (Jud 3:10, 6:34, 11:29 and 13:25), but it was at the schools of the prophets that the first corporate stirrings of the Spirit came down upon the seventy elders during the time of Moses (Num 11:24-29).

The students at the school of the prophets in Jericho were concerned to receive confirmation that Elisha was the God-appointed successor to Elijah. They did not wait in vain, for as Elijah ascended to heaven his cloak fell upon his protege; and when Elisha struck the water with it and cried, "Where now is the God of Elijah?", the waters of the Jordan divided. This miracle confirmed to the prophets that he was their new leader and that the same fullness of the Spirit was now to be manifest through him (2 Ki 2:11-15).

The truth on which the schools of the prophets were established is this: no-one can prophesy unless the Spirit has come upon him (1 Sam 10:6 and 19:20-23). Even a false prophet recognised that men can prophesy only when the Spirit comes upon them (1 Ki 22:24).

The schools of the prophets were established on this truth: no-one can prophesy unless the Spirit has come upon them.

Their Music

As was still true a thousand years later, the coming of the Holy Spirit on the sons of the prophets caused them to break forth into sacred music and praise (1 Sam 10:5 and Eph 5:18-19). They did not restrict their praise just to within the four walls of their seminaries, but organised 'praise marches'. Taking with them an assortment of musical instruments, they went out into the open air, prophesying with inspired praise. What they sang and played was given to them spontaneously as they marched along.

By the time of King David the prophets, divided into music guilds, were responsible for the leading of praise and worship. "Some of the sons of Asaph, Heman and Jeduthun [were set apart] for the ministry of prophesying accompanied by harps, lyres and cymbals" (1 Chron 25:1). Two hundred and fifty years later, after Hezekiah had purified it, "He stationed the Levites in the Temple of the Lord with cymbals, harps and lyres in the way prescribed by David and Gad the king's seer and Nathan the prophet; this was commanded by the Lord through his prophets" (2 Chron 29:25).

We must not make the mistake of imagining this singing arising from choirs commanding only small forces. Towards the end of David's reign he went on record as saying, "Four thousand are to praise the Lord with musical instruments I have provided for that purpose" (1 Chron 23:5).

Their Archives

When we study the historical books of the Old Testament we come across references to books that were written by the prophets. These were the result of careful recording of events by contemporaries and have been quoted by the writers of our Old Testament. We read of "the records of Nathan the prophet...the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite...the visions of Iddo the seer", also "the records of Shemaiah the prophet" and "the records of Samuel the seer...and the records of Gad the seer" (2 Chron 9:29, 12:15 and 1 Chron 29:29).

We are indebted to the 'schools of the prophets' for housing and protecting these records, also for adding to their collection by making contemporary records of the events of their day. Clearly it was a work of the Holy Spirit that moved them to archive this material for the benefit of others.

As was still true a thousand years later, the coming of the Holy Spirit on the sons of the prophets caused them to break forth into sacred music and praise.

Their Duration

There can be no doubt about the importance of these schools in the purposes of God, but we cannot be certain how long they continued. We know that they came into being, probably as we saw earlier under the influence of the prophet Samuel, around 1000 BC. They continued during the reign of David and most likely merged into the guilds that he instituted, especially the guild of prophetic musicians.

However, by the time of Amos (779-743 BC), under the leadership of Elijah and followed by that of Elisha, we find that they were still flourishing as centres of religious training and devotion. Some would claim that they continued throughout the period of the monarchy. The reference in Isaiah 8:16 suggests that there was a group of disciples associated with the prophet in his day, around 740 BC, but it is difficult to prove that schools continued as centres of worship, study, corporate life and proclamation after that time.

Living as we do at a time when prophecy has been ignored or devalued, it is surely time that provision be made for men and women filled with the Spirit to once more come together to study, to practice and to learn how to manifest prophecy and the other gifts of the Spirit.

First Published in Prophecy Today, Vol 5 No 5, September/October 1989.

Edmund Heddle continues his series on prophecy by looking in depth at the ministry of Elijah.

The religious life of Israel reached an all time low during the reign of Ahab (873-851 BC) and the Bible's verdict on him reads, "he did evil in the sight of the Lord more than all that went before him" (1 Kings 16:30).

Prosperous Times

Politically, Ahab was one of Israel's strongest kings. Whilst he reigned, Israel was at peace with Judah, Moab paid large sums of tribute money regularly and he twice defeated Benhadad, King of Syria. Internally, it was a time when prosperity and materialism flourished. In the excavation of the site of Ahab's palace archaeologists unearthed items of furniture made of ivory encrusted with gold.

Disastrous Marriage

Bur while in these ways his reign was successful, from the point of view of the worship of Yahweh, it was a time of unmitigated disaster. Ahab's father, Omri, had arranged that he would marry a heathen princess, Jezebel, daughter of the Zidonian king. No sooner had Ahab come to power than Jezebel, with the help of 450 heathen prophets, set about introducing into Israel the idolatrous worship of the Phoenician god Melkart, better known to us as 'Baal'.

Ahab was one of Israel's strongest and most prosperous kings. But in God's eyes, his reign was disastrous."

And as if this was not enough, she also brought over from Sidon four hundred more prophets to perform in Israel the licentious orgies of the goddess Ashtoreth. In her determination to establish this heathen religion she persecuted the followers of Yahweh and did not hesitate to kill numbers of his true prophets.

Wicked Queen

"Everything we know about Jezebel shows her to have been a woman born to dominate, a very fountain of burning energy, passionate, self-willed, determined, stopping at nothing to effect her ends. To all this was added a religious devotion bordering on fanaticism".¹ She was determined to promote the worship of Baal and took advantage of the fact that in an agricultural country like Israel, a god who was said to bring good harvests would have a special attraction.

An 8th Century BC carving from Syria depicts Baal as a weather-god holding an axe and a thunderbolt.

Crisis Prophet

To deal with such a situation, God brought on to the scene the prophet Elijah, considered by many to be the greatest of the prophets. Very little is known about his antecedents. He is introduced in Scripture as "Elijah the Tishbite from Tishbeh in Gilead" (1 Kings 17:1). We have no exact date for his birth, his appearance in Israel or his translation to heaven, but he must have prophesied for at least twenty years in the reign of King Ahab.

This man who emerged from the rough pasture lands bordering the wilderness came to be recognised by his garment of hair with a leather girdle (2 Kings 1:8). He spent much time in solitude with only occasional visits to the peopled cities. He appeared and disappeared with such startling suddenness that no one knew where to find him at any particular time (1 Kings 18:10, 12).

Elijah spent much time in solitude, appearing and disappearing very suddenly according to the leading of the Spirit of God."

However, when Ahab's steward, Obadiah, expressed his exasperation at Elijah's sudden disappearances, his words reveal that Elijah's movements were to be traced to his direction by the Spirit of God. It was the Spirit's direction that ensured that at every critical juncture Elijah was always at hand, ready to go into action as the conscience of the nation.

False Religion

With a name like Elijah (meaning Yahweh is God!), it was inevitable that he would find himself on a collision course with Jezebel, Baal and his false prophets. In fact he precipitated this by praying that God would fulfil his threat to withhold rain from the land of Israel, seeing his people had turned to idolatry (Deut l l:16, 17).

Prayer for Disaster

If we had only the Old Testament record, we would assume that when Elijah told Ahab that there would be no rain on Israel for three years he was merely passing on a direct revelation from God. It is the New Testament which reveals that this situation had come about in answer to Elijah's prayer (James 5:17).

In one sense, Ahab was right when he referred to Elijah as the 'troubler of Israel' (1 Kings 18:17), though Elijah rightly pointed out that the real cause of the drought was the disobedience of Israel's kings and their idolatry in Baal worship. Elijah is not the only prophet who has been blamed for an event because he prophesied it would happen!

Elijah actually prayed for disaster to befall Israel because of her disobedience."

Carmel Confrontation

Elijah then proposed that a public demonstration be staged on Mount Carmel to prove whether Baal, the Zidonian weather-god or Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was the real god. By challenging Ahab and the prophets of Baal to such a confrontation, Elijah joined the ranks of prophets like Samuel, Nathan, Gad and Shemaiah who had the courage to confront kings who were acting contrary to God's will. But Elijah did so in such a way as to instigate the classic encounter for all time between Yahweh and all idol gods.

Carmel, meaning 'garden', or 'park', is proverbial in Scripture for its natural beauty and majesty (Isa 35:2). It was on its wooded headland that rose high above the Mediterranean Sea that Elijah challenged the people to choose once and for all between Yahweh and Baal. The nature of the challenge focussed on the preparation of two bulls for sacrifice with the understanding that no fire should be kindled by the worshippers. Elijah gave first place to Baal's prophets and they cried out to their weather-god to ignite the fire by "fire from heaven"- i.e. lightning (Gen 19:24; 1 Chron 21:26).

Elijah instigated a classic encounter between Yahweh and idol gods, challenging the prophets of Baal to prove his existence."

Religious HysteriaStatue of Elijah / see Photo Credits

Although they cried from early morning till noon there was no response. At this point Elijah began to mock them for their failure to get any response from Baal. "Pray louder!" he suggested: "Maybe he is day-dreaming or relieving himself, or perhaps he's gone on a journey! Or maybe he's sleeping and you've got to wake him up!" (1 Kings 18:27 TEV).

This provoked them to a continuous ranting and raving which went on until the middle of the afternoon; meanwhile they cut themselves with their lances and tried to appease their god with the shedding of their own blood. But all to no avail as the Scripture states pathetically: "no-one answered, no-one heeded" (1 Kings 18:29).

Prayer Answered

Then came the turn of Elijah, but first he ordered that the sacrifice and wood were to be soaked with water. All eyes must have keen riveted on the lone prophet as he quietly prayed to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel and offered three reasons why he should answer by fire.

These were that all present might know (i) that Yahweh was God in Israel, (ii) that Elijah was his servant and had acted in obedience to his instructions, (iii) that God had turned their hearts back to their true God. In striking contrast to the day-long screaming of Baal's prophets, Elijah prayed quietly and at once the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the sacrifice...the wood...the stones...and the water that was in the trench. When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said: Yahweh, He is God! Yahweh, He is God!

Courage Rewarded

What Elijah accomplished on Mount Carmel must never be underestimated."

After such an exposure of the futility of idolatry, the false prophets were put to the sword. For Elijah there could be no compromise. To him, the spiritual life of the nation was at stake and he, to his eternal credit, had been willing to stand alone as the only effective opposition to the evil religious policies of the royal court. What might have happened if Jezebel had been allowed to go on unchallenged, no one can say.

What Elijah accomplished on Mount Carmel must never be underestimated. It was at the risk of his own life that he stood up for the true God. If he had failed that day on Carmel, his fate would have been the same as that meted out to Baal's discredited prophets.

A Man Like Us

Whatever may be our reaction to Elijah's subsequent panic-stricken running away to escape the threats of Jezebel, we must not let it for one moment detract from our admiration of his courage on Carmel. Rather, we must let the fact that Scripture tells us that he was a "man with human frailties like our own" (James 5:17 NEB) deepen our appreciation of both his outstanding courage and his temporary lapse into gripping fear.

Elijah was 'a man just like us', with weaknesses as well as strengths, moments of failure as well as moments of success."

Naboth's Vineyard

Having seen how Elijah dealt with the false religion of Baal, we turn to see how he dealt with the evil acts of Jezebel and Ahab in the matter of Naboth's vineyard (1 Kings 21). In Jezreel there was a vineyard owned by a citizen named Naboth. Because it was so close to the palace, King Ahab wanted it and planned to make it his herb garden. He approached the owner with a fair offer of purchase or exchange, but Naboth refused and Ahab went back to the palace in a fit of the sulks. Jezebel found him sulking and soon discovered why.

It is important to notice that Naboth was not just being awkward. From the law of Moses it is clear that Israel was considered to be God's land. The Israelites were his tenants and one of the conditions of their tenancy was that their allocation of land must remain in the possession of their family. In cases of extreme necessity they might have to part with it temporarily, but even then only until the year of Jubilee. Naboth knew that once the King got hold of it, he would never see it back and so he refused the king's offer.

Wicked Frame-Up

When Jezebel discovered the reason for Ahab's sulking, she scornfully asked him who was ruling Israel and before he could reply she had arranged a frame-up which resulted in the execution of Naboth and the confiscation of all his property, on a trumped up charge.

Flushed with success, she bade Ahab go and take possession of the vineyard he so much wanted. As he didn't go he was confronted by a well-known figure and Elijah quickly pointed out that Jezebel's action had outraged the principles of justice laid down by Moses for Israel. He said that such a crime had sealed their doom and Jezebel and Ahab would die along with all their posterity - a threat that was carried out to the letter (1 Kings 21:21-22; 2 Kings 10:1-11).

In the matter of Naboth's vineyard, Elijah was responsible for prophesying the doom of both Jezebel and Ahab."

Yahweh's Council

Elijah was distinguished from the rest of men by his special relationship with Yahweh. He stood before him as a trusted official (1 Kings 17:1) listening to what he was going to do and discovering what his part in carrying it out might be. This is the picture behind the frequent mention in the Elijah stories that the word of the Lord had come to him (1 Kings 17:1-2, 8; 1 Kings: 1; 1 Kings 21:17, 28-29). Both his movements and his messages were dictated by Yahweh.

Elijah to Come

The closing words of the Old Testament promise that Elijah was to come again to prepare the way for the Messiah. The Gospels show that this promise was a frequent topic of conversation during the ministry of Jesus (Matthew 17, 10-13). Zechariah had been told that his son, John the Baptist, would minister in the "spirit and power of Elijah" (Luke 1:17).

Although Jesus regarded John the Baptist as a fulfilment of Malachi's prophecy, his words seem to leave open the likelihood that there will be other Elijahs in the future. If ever there was a day when an Elijah witness was needed in the nations of the world it is surely today!

First published in Prophecy Today, Vol 2 No 2, March/April 1986

References

1 Fleming, J,1950. Personalities of the Old Testament, Charles Scribner's Sons, p171.